Want to dip your toe into the "flipped classroom" water without a big investment or learning curve? A free online tool that records actions on one's computer is winning fans among educators. Screencast-O-Matic, which allows users to create narrated videos of the actions that appear on their computer screens, is being hailed by some as the next level of digital learning.
Because Screencast-O-Matic allows the user to record up to 15 minutes of every action performed on his/her computer, complete with audio narration and visual effects, absent students can receive personalized versions of missed lessons. The recordings can be saved in mp4 format and shared in any number of ways, including email.
I want to share an idea that worked really well for me.
A few weeks ago~ I had the students come to school dressed like a super hero of their own creation. I was dressed like a villian~ black cape~ black mask. I also used a voice scrambler to sound like Darth Vader.
The class then competed against mein a series of challenges that tested math~ vocabulary and science skills. Every time they got an answer right~ they got a point. The same went for me. While the...
I am thinking about trying the following idea:
Set the room up like a maze or gauntlet~ using curtains~ sheets~ etc. My students then have to navigate the maze and pass a series of tests before preceding to the next section. I want to set the tests up so they test students on nationally established standards for gifted students~ like determining their strengths and choosing the learning style that best works for them.
I would have parents help adminster the...
I retired after teaching for 33 years and continue to develop teaching materials(all free) for use in the classroom. I just returned from a trip of a life-time~ a trip to China and~ many pinch me moments-including walking the Great Wall of China. I just posted pictures and captions which you might find of use in your classroom at my website.http://www.gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?chinafolder.html and...
Editor's Note: Today's guest post comes from Dr. Scott Taylor~ an educator from New Jersey.
A Protocol for Developing Meaningful Curricula
The actual process of developing curricula has not been properly defined for educational leaders who aspire to collaboratively engage their teachers in a thoughtful and sincere codification of the programs they are expected to implement in their classrooms. There are plenty of curriculum...
Try a trampoline.
I asked a parent to donate a mini-trampoline to the classroom and began using it to create excitement in my fifth-grade classroom.
Sometimes~ I jump on it for fun~ and when I land~ I have the class yell "boom!"
Other times~ I reward students who get a correct answer by letting them come up and get in some jumps. It is amazing how hard they will work to jump a few times on a trampoline!
Without exception~ visitors...
Greetings~
I want to share a technique I stumbled upon that I call the Celebrity Challenge! Though it can be used for any subject really~ I use it to motivate my fifth-gradestudents during math instruction.
I hang up a poster of a popular celebrity~ the more controversial the better. Then~ I tell the students that I will tear a small piece of poster up everytime they collectively score a 90 percent or better on a test (the CPS remote system I use provides me with a quick...
Editor's Note: Today's guest post comes from Dr. Scott Taylor~ an educator from New Jersey.
There are certain realities about professional development (PD) that we cannot ignore:
1. After-school hours and the regular school calendar do not provide schools with enough time with which to engage teachers in professional support (Fullan & Miles~ 1992).
2. There are more and more requirements~ codes~ standards~ and...